Bachelor Ben Higgins Is Engaged to Lauren Bushnell!

The Bachelor EXCLUSIVE! Bachelor Ben Higgins opens up about why fiancée Lauren Bushnell “was always the one” and the decision he regrets the most. Subscribe now for all their wedding plan details plus exclusive photos, only in PEOPLE!

The Bachelor‘s Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell on the cover of PEOPLE• For much more from Ben and Lauren’s new life together, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

“Everything that happened led me to Lauren,” Higgins tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s cover story. “I couldn’t be happier.”

The business analyst, 27, fell hard for 26-year-old Bushnell on night one.

His feelings grew stronger even as he grew close to runner up, real estate developer JoJo Fletcher, 25, eventually telling both women he was in love with them.

PEOPLE’s Celebrating All 20 Seasons of The Bachelor collector’s editionThe Image Bank/Getty• PEOPLE’s collector’s edition The Bachelor, with new interviews and updates on your favorite contestants, is on sale now in stores and online!

“I can’t apologize for being honest or expressing what I thought was best to express at the time,” says Higgins. “But I could never picture my life without Lauren.”

As for Bushnell, who is moving into Higgins’ Denver home this month, “It was all worth it. I appreciate him more every day.”